The Act: What happened to Dee Dee, Gypsy Rose and Nicholas Godejohn next?

Dee Dee Blanchard – born Clauddine or Claudinea Pitre – was stabbed to death in bed in her own home in Greene County, Missouri, back in June 2015. She was 48 years old.

Her murder was orchestrated by her daughter Gypsy Rose and Gypsy's secret boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn. Nicholas carried out the murder while Gypsy waited in the bathroom.

HBO

Dee Dee's body was found by police on June 14, 2015, after neighbours raised concerns about a Facebook post shared from Dee Dee's account which read: "That bitch is dead."

Less then 48 hours later, both Gypsy and Nicholas were arrested for her murder. It was then that the full, bizarre story began to emerge.

HBO

Gypsy's decision to kill her mother was seemingly borne out of desperation to lead a normal life, something she had never experienced. Her mother had managed to convince practically everyone that Gypsy had a wealth of serious medical issues, including leukemia, asthma, muscular dystrophy, sleep apnea, chromosomal defects, numerous allergies and acid reflux, among other things.

She had none of them.

She was forced to eat through a feeding tube and use a wheelchair, neither of which she needed. Her hair was kept shaved because, according to Dee Dee, it would fall out anyway, and she had also told people that her daughter had a severely delayed mental capacity because of brain damage. (She didn't.)

Dee Dee continually lied about her daughter's age to medical professionals, friends and neighbours, and Gypsy herself – back in 2010, Dee Dee told people that Gypsy was 14 years old when in fact, she was 19.

Gypsy felt like a prisoner, eventually becoming fully aware that virtually all of her ailments had been concocted by her mother who, according to psychiatrists, had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental health condition where a person invents or causes illness or injury to the person they are looking after.

Sufferers are driven to seek out attention, higher self-esteem and a greater purpose, but Gypsy Rose was bearing the brunt of Dee Dee's condition, so much so she felt murder was the only option.

HBO

It's a tragic and twisted tale, which was first covered in a BuzzFeedarticle titled: 'Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom Murdered'.

Hulu's The Act is a dramatised look at the tragedy – but a number of other documentaries and specials devoted to the subject are already out there, including Dr Phil'sMother Knows Best: A Story of Munchausen by Proxy and Murder, andHBO'sMommy Dead and Dearest.

HBO

Several years have passed since the events detailed in The Act. This is where the drama's key personalities are now.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard

HBO

Gypsy pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of her mother in 2016 after agreeing to a plea deal for her role in the killing. The then 24-year-old avoided the death penalty and received a 10-year prison sentence – the minimum sentence for a second-degree murder charge.

The medical, physical and psychological abuse inflicted upon Gypsy by Dee Dee was the driving factor behind the reduced sentence.

In 2023, Gypsy will have served roughly seven years of her sentence at the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri and will be eligible for parole, just before she turns 33.

HBO

Speaking to theSpringfield News-Leader, Gypsy's step-mum Kristy Blanchard, who is married to Gypsy's biological father Rod, said: "She is doing amazing. She is thriving.

"There has been no long-term side effects from all the medication her mom had given her. She has a clean bill of health, thank God — and I really only think what it has done was stunt her growth.

"Now, don't get me wrong, her eyes, she does have a lazy eye if she doesn't wear her glasses all the time. That was since she was a little baby. Everything else was all a lie."

Despite being in prison, Kristy said Gypsy had told her that she is "happier now than with her mum, and that if she had a choice to either be in jail or back with her mum, she would rather be in jail".

Gypsy is reportedly studying for her General Education Development (GED), which is essentially a substitute for the high-school qualifications she was never given the chance to obtain.

Nicholas Godejohn

HBO

Godejohn carried out the murder of Dee Dee and was subsequently convicted of first-degree murder back in 2018.

He also avoided the death penalty and was given life in prison without the possibility of parole after being denied a new trial.

He admitted to fatally stabbing Dee Dee because Gypsy had told him to – his defense attorneys argued that he was motivated by love and wanted to rescue his girlfriend from her abusive mother.

His defense also argued that Godejohn's mental health should be taken into consideration. Forensic psychologist Dr Kent Franks testified on his behalf and a number of tests were carried out to analyse his intelligence and mental health but the prosecution's psychologist argued that he is only just within the diagnosis of autism – and that it would not therefore inhibit his moral judgment.

Godejohn also received a 25-year sentence for armed criminal action, to be served at the same time.

Mel

Hulu

Chloë Sevigny plays the role of Mel, the neighbour who is initially suspicious of Dee Dee before eventually succumbing to her vulnerability and the story she was selling about both her and Gypsy's life.

Mel isn't a real person and neither is her daughter Lacy (AnnaSophia Robb). But there are some similarities to an individual cited in the original BuzzFeed feature.

That person is Amy Pinegar, a single mother with four children who was also Dee Dee and Gypsy's neighbour.

"Over years of tea and coffee, Dee Dee would tell Amy her life story," reads the BuzzFeed piece.

The article describes Amy as feeling "overwhelmed" about all of the information Dee Dee confided in her.

"I wondered, keeping this child alive... Is she that happy?" she told journalist Dean over the phone. In order to help and "be a good neighbour", she would drive Dee Dee and Gypsy to the airport for their medical trips to Kansas City, among other things.

It looks like Amy is still living in Springfield, Missouri.

Lacey

HBO

Amy's daughter is Aleah Woodmansee,a medical claims investigator, who described herself as feeling "like a big sister to Gypsy" in the BuzzFeed feature. But the pair were rarely, if ever, allowed to spend time alone.

They were almost always supervised by Dee Dee, and in the HBO documentary Amy described their lack of privacy as a "filter" and "really the big red flag thinking back on it all".

It was Woodmansee who informed officials about Gypsy's online boyfriend, which helped the police to track the pair down in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, where Nicholas lived with his parents.

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